Having this story told through pictures and poetry made a touching and heartfelt true story even more beautiful. I have purchased a copy for my classroom to share with my students.

Yes, its written for middle grade students and up, but its a great introduction for adults as to why Loving vs. Virginia was such a landmark decision.

Informative and readable. This book was enjoyed by middle school readers and also proved useful in a 9th grade AP government course.

Unfortunately I was unable to review this book due to a corrupted file.

Loving Vs Virginia: A Documentary Novel is my favorite historical fiction book for middle schoolers and Young Adults this year. The book grabbed me immediately and it is the best kind of book for readers who might feel intimidated by verse and rhyme. I learned so much, even though I know their story well. Loving vs. Virginia's is lyrically beautiful yet doesn't cover the harsh realities and the injustice with its words. The words and pictures reinforce each other; the pictures are sometime in color, sometimes in sepia and they are perfectly placed. Both words and pictures allow us to know and feel how much this couple loved each other, how much support they received by their families (and the risks that they took too) and how far the sheriff and other politicians went to keep anti-miscegenation laws from changing. We see the Loving's being hunted down and jailed and forced to flee. We see their suffering and how they tried to quietly live their lives whether separated or not. And we know that injustice still takes place here and in other countries and can be used to teach students about this fact. It is an outstanding book.

I would not recommend this book on the Kindle or Nook. The book is more vibrant and easy to read

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book for an honest opinion.

I was unable to read this before my PDF expired. It is much better when I can send things to my Kindle.

Richard & Mildred Loving were two young people who fell in love in rural Virginia. This may not sound like anything out of the ordinary, except this is 1950s Virginia, where their marriage was considered illegal.

This is a beautiful book told in both voices written in verse. Interspersed there are images and perhaps more importantly quotes, photographs, and other information which layers in the historical context. I think young readers will greatly benefit from that choice because it will allow them to appreciate how important this case is to our American story.

I was not expecting this book to be so amazing! It has gorgeous illustrations, historic photographs, and copies of unbelievable documents and quotes that show the laws and thoughts of that time period that were against interracial marriages. The book touches on the segregation of schools in the U.S. at the time but it's main focus is on Richard and Mildred Loving and their fight to have their marriage legal in the state of Virginia. I was flabbergasted at the way they were treated. They married in Washington D.C. but once they crossed the line into Virginia, they were outlaws. The story is written in verse form and the illustrations and photographs are intermixed throughout. I highly recommend this amazing book to young people. It is such an important part of history that we must never forget.

This book brings into landmark case for the right to love and marry a person of a different race, It resonates as now marriage is available to all regardless of color of gender.

This is the sort of story that works well in the verse novel format. THe plot is simple, its conclusion predictable. This allows Powell to really focus on the emotional journey, to show us how the characters grow and change, how years of mistreatment affect them. The quick read also shocks us with the amount of time this couple spent fighting an unjust law. We learn about Freedom Riders, sit-ins, voter registration, and integration in school No one teaches about marriage laws. A fantastic look at a lesser known bit of history.

Love: It's complicated and simple, all at once. Imagine falling in love with the person your society considers "wrong" for you, based purely on the color of his or her skin. LOVING VS. VIRGINIA looks back at the history of interracial marriage in the United States, through the lens of a love affair. Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter were raised in rural Virginia in the 1950s, where segregation was the law, but where racial barriers occasionally broke down between neighbors in a small community.

Richard's father had worked for a black boss, and Richard didn't think twice about hanging out with his African-American neighbors, dancing and racing their cars on long country roads. Mildred was six years younger. As their attraction to one another grew, they realized that they had something special together. Despite miscegenation laws that meant blacks and whites could not marry, the two young people began to dream of a life together.

It's impossible to read LOVING VS. VIRGINIA without comparing the book to the film Loving (Nichols, 2016). After reading this young adult documentary novel written primarily in verse, it seems the film, which detailed Mildred and Richard's struggle to be together, glossed over the fact that this was a difficult decision. According to the book, the two had a child together and were pregnant with the second when they decided to marry. They'd thought long and hard, spent time together, but also apart. Their love for one another was obvious, even if the way forward wasn't always quite as clear. To me, this makes their ultimate decision to be together more powerful and also more human.

Powell offers the reader portraits of two private individuals who never meant to be civil rights activists. They married quietly in Washington, DC, where no laws prevented their marriage, and returned home to Virginia, only to be arrested for unlawfully marrying not long afterwards. The judge banned them from the state, forcing them to make their home for a while in DC. But Mildred was, at heart, a country girl and proud of it. Her family and their homestead were never far from her mind, and Richard agreed to move the family back to Virginia. By then, in the late 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement had come alive, so the Lovings' story is set against the backdrop of documentary materials aimed at giving young readers a sense of the historic events of the time period - schools ordered to desegregate, marches aimed at finally enforcing Brown vs. Board of education, and resistance on the part of Southern leaders determined to maintain the "separate but equal" status quo.

Inspired by the Movement, Mildred reached out to Attorney General Robert Kennedy who referred her to the American Civil Liberties Unions. A young ACLU attorney, Bernard Cohen, took their case against Virginia's discriminatory marriage law and brought in a more experienced attorney, Philip Hirshkop to assist. The case eventually reached the US Supreme Court, and the Lovings won in 1967.

The author's research, which included interviews with surviving family members, is impressive. LOVING VS. VIRGINIA is a powerful story, told simply through free verse from the perspectives of Richard and Mildred. In addition to period photographs of demonstrations and other events during the years the case was pending, the book includes black and white drawings by Shadra Strickland. These illustrations, like the text, are very simple, but in several of them, shadows loom. They suggest a time whose innocence is skin deep, a place where threats might surface unexpectedly, seemingly at random.

Highly recommended for middle school and up.

This book was a little different from what I thought. For one thing, I wasn't really sure whether it was historical fiction or nonfiction. The narrative is in verse and it's telling the story from the POVs of Richard and Mildred Loving. It also has quotes from George Wallace (an awful Governor of Alabama who was a BIG opponent of school integration)and newspaper clippings and quotes from Supreme Court justices sprinkled throughout the book.

On one hand, I think the story of the Lovings was so sweet and so important to this country. These people just wanted to live their lives. They had children together and they were so young. They didn't marry until after their second child, but they got married because they loved each other and because they wanted to make a family for their kids. There was so much about this book that made me angry. I hated the sheriff that was out to get them and looked for excuses to get them in trouble. I hated that Mildred and Richard couldn't just be together. I hated that Mildred had to deal with lower class movie theatre sections and hand me down books in her school. I absolutely loved Richard and the fact that he never saw her as anything but an incredible woman. He didn't care about the color of her skin. There was one scene where the lawyer asked him if he wanted to tell the court anything for him. His response was pure Richard. It was simple and sweet: "Tell them I love my wife, and it is just unfair that I can't live with her in Virginia." They didn't even want the attention or the court case. They didn't want to set some great big example or set precedent for other couples: they just wanted to be together.

I guess the main thing I didn't like about the book was that it was told in verse. I am picky about those kinds of books. It doesn't always work. Even though I admired this couple and rooted for them, there were times when I felt a bit disconnected from their emotions and everything that was happening because of the way it was presented. It is still a worthwhile read though.

This book was a little different from what I thought. For one thing, I wasn't really sure whether it was historical fiction or nonfiction. The narrative is in verse and it's telling the story from the POVs of Richard and Mildred Loving. It also has quotes from George Wallace (an awful Governor of Alabama who was a BIG opponent of school integration)and newspaper clippings and quotes from Supreme Court justices sprinkled throughout the book.

On one hand, I think the story of the Lovings was so sweet and so important to this country. These people just wanted to live their lives. They had children together and they were so young. They didn't marry until after their second child, but they got married because they loved each other and because they wanted to make a family for their kids. There was so much about this book that made me angry. I hated the sheriff that was out to get them and looked for excuses to get them in trouble. I hated that Mildred and Richard couldn't just be together. I hated that Mildred had to deal with lower class movie theatre sections and hand me down books in her school. I absolutely loved Richard and the fact that he never saw her as anything but an incredible woman. He didn't care about the color of her skin. There was one scene where the lawyer asked him if he wanted to tell the court anything for him. His response was pure Richard. It was simple and sweet: "Tell them I love my wife, and it is just unfair that I can't live with her in Virginia." They didn't even want the attention or the court case. They didn't want to set some great big example or set precedent for other couples: they just wanted to be together.

I guess the main thing I didn't like about the book was that it was told in verse. I am picky about those kinds of books. It doesn't always work. Even though I admired this couple and rooted for them, there were times when I felt a bit disconnected from their emotions and everything that was happening because of the way it was presented. It is still a worthwhile read though. Highly recommended.

The fight for the legalization of interracial marriage was long and frustrating, much like the battle for the legalization of gay marriage rights. I was immediately interested in learning more about the history, considering these are rights I take for granted. This story is a true story based off of a black woman and white man struggling to be legally married in Virginia.

The book is told in verse and reads very quickly. Though I didn't find much poetic about the writing style, I think it's more so about the experience. Richard and Mildred meet when they're young, growing up in a town where all races mix and there's no segregation with the town folk. Mildred is African American and also part Native American and still faces discrimination from the police. As they grow older and eventually get married, it's harder to stay in Virginia, due to the illegalization of interracial marriage.

Overall, I really enjoyed learning about the struggle of the legalization of interracial marriage in Virginia. I live in Virginia, so this definitely something that many people take for granted. Learning about the history on how a couple struggled with the injustice of marriage is very important. Would recommend for everyone.
Rating: 3.25/5

This lovely poetic narrative, told in alternating verse between Richard and Mildred, tells their love story and their fight to be married in the eyes of the law. Set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement this book ties in to significant events with photographs and explanations. Well done. My school only goes up to grade 5 so I am not sure if I would have it in my library but would highly recommend to the jr. high.

Somehow I missed the fact that this novel is told in verse—which is admittedly ridiculous, since it’s one of the first things stated about Loving vs. Virginia. Actually, I thought I would be reading a nonfiction narrative relating the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, so I was thoroughly surprised and excited to discover the stark, emotive poetry in which Mildred and Richard tell their stories.
Each chapter paints a specific scene in the tale of their love. The poems create a sense of time and culture in few words and really drew me into the emotions of the characters. Fans of novel-in-verse storytelling and of historical fiction and romance should definitely read this book. Honestly, I felt like reading Loving vs. Virginia made me stop and think about how short a time ago in our history a man and woman were denied the right to love one another and be married because of their race. I loved the message of hope and triumph in the story and the inclusion of historical timelines and other information. Those helped craft a larger understanding of what was happening in the country at the time this story really happened.

"The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men."

Told in verse this book, shows the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving a mixed race couple in the 50's.
Going into this book I really didn't know much about anything about this couple/case besides the fact that they went against not only the government, but how most people at the time believed things should still be. The bravery that these two had to continue to fight for what they and so many others deserved is just amazing to me and I am so grateful for them. They had to fight for something that should have been able for anyone to do together no matter the color of their skin.
As for the couple themselves though, at first I did struggle to like Richard. I felt like at times he took advantage of the age difference that he and Mildred had, that had her being slightly naive when it came to certain things. Also I didn't like that he didn't stick around to help Mildred out when consequences happened for something they both participated in. When he came back though and had changed his ways enough that made it possible for them to be a family, I started to be okay with him though. Especially when he was working in Virginia even though they were having to live in Washington, it showed me that he was dedicated to providing for his family and making it work between him and Mildred despite all of the roadblocks they had ahead of them.

Mildred has to be one of the strongest people I have ever read about. Not only did she try to make the best out of what was happening around her, she also kept fighting for what she wanted despite Richard getting tired of the fight and just wanting to give up at one point.

As for how accurate this novel is in comparison to what actually happened to Mildred and Richard, I honestly have no idea. But I do hope to read more about them in the future to continue to learn about this point in history.

Review will be posted on January 30th, 2017

eflections: I was a pre-teen and teenager during the Civil Rights Era. There were fights about segregation. Last week a friend and I went to see the movie Loving.

Loving vs. Virginia is a novel in verse. Chapters alternate between Mildred and Richard Loving. The state of Virginia declares their marriage to be illegal. This is the story of their fight to be able to live in Virginia near their families. Photos and documents from the era are included in the book.

My perspective: It was wonderful to read the book and see the movie during the same week. There were differences between the two. Both are highly recommended.

An uplifting story of a dark time in history. It mixes poetry and news from the time that creates a lovely read.